Last week's Persecution and Prayer Alert reported on the rape of two Christian women after the husband of one refused to recant his faith in Christ (click here for the story). According to a June 9 report from Compass Direct, pressure is mounting on the Christians in area. The head of twelve villages, including Nadia where the women were raped, is demanding that all Christians renounce their faith in Christ or leave the area. Furthermore, Pandya Patel declared that anyone who speaks to the police about him or about the rapes, regardless of their religion, will be expelled from the area.
Attempts to silence reports about the rapes have expanded into official circles as well. On June 5, Indira Iyengar, a member of the Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Commission, brought the rape victims to the state capital to meet the governor. A press conference was also called to highlight the incident, but members of the militant organization Bajrang Dal disrupted the press conference and warned Iyengar not to accuse them of attacking Christians. Iyengar has now been ordered to give justification as to why she should not be removed from the commission for holding a press conference without approval of the commission chair.
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